voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post November]

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A New Platform [Intro Post November]

On the Train

The morning after the Halloween party passengers are once again woken by a familiar voice.

"Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Imagination. Points have been updated on the system and new stock is available."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. But through the fog comes sunshine, causing patches where the light shines down to warm the concrete. Looking up passengers will not be able to see the sun through the fog, or much of the sky at all.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Bryn Pendragon, Bucky Barnes, Colden Rollins, Elena, Fai D Flourite, Jiang Yanli, Juliette d'Aubigniy, Misa, Peter Parker, Samata Mahto, Satou Kuroneko, The Doctor, Tohru Mutou, Zuko, 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges The Horizon. They all walk silently and do not look back as they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. The second thing they will notice is the thick fog, penetrated by beams of light. As their eyes adjust they will see they are on a platform, behind them are a set of barriers and in front of them is a single track.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds five figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the gloom step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked and Honey is the newest ingredient, jars of honey stock the shelves and the ICP's in the kitchen have recipe ideas for the month.

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a small but function-able spa, complete with a small hot tub and even a steam room. It is a relaxing room with sun lamps and relaxing music or nature sounds available through the ICP. There are a couple of massage tables, with a course for how to give massages for those eager to learn.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers braving the snow and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

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The sun was out this time. Did that mean anything? How is there weather, in the void? Are the platforms even part of the void, or -

None of this affects what Ken needs to do, which is step out onto the platform and greet the newcomers. To be perfectly honest, he's nervous. He's never....been the one greeting people, has he? Even with all the new Chosen Children, he's stayed back, let Hikari-san and Koushirou-san help the newcomers adapt. He's on the international Chosen Children mailing list, but rarely communicates with anyone outside his group....

(Chichos sends him selfies, though. Or Chichos had been sending him selfies. For some reason, in the past few weeks, she'd stopped. Getting ready for her quinceañera?)

In any case, he's putting off what he needs to do, so Ken begins to wander the platform. So many fewer people this time...

He raises a hand to a shadow in the fog, but then one of the shadows falls over. And speaks. In a familiar voice.

Ken is startled into silence. Wormmon is startled clear off Ken's head - leaping to form a Digimon pile, sleeves of his orange hoodie trailing like streamers in the same wind as his antennae.

"Agumoooooon~! Long time no see!"

Edited 2020-11-01 15:24 (UTC)

Agumon blinks as he starts to pick himself up. There's another person in the heap he just formed! Wait a minute, this person smells familiar!

"Ah! Wormmon!" Agumon exclaimed, grabbing the worm in his claws and hosting him up. "You're here! Are any of the others here too?!"

Taichi, meanwhile, is left incredulous. But if Wormmon is here, that must mean... Wait. Who is that? That doesn't look like you-know-who, but at the same time, it does.

"K-Ken? What happened to you?!"

He'd gotten taller than Taichi was, that's what.

Wormmon nods. "Yeah! Takato from the other world, and Guilmon - "

EXCITED WORM GESTURES. "And KEN-CHAN!"

So there's your answer, Taichi. Though Ken is also staring, mind working to try and catch up. Agumon, plus someone with that unmistakable coiffure can only be....

That's impossible, part of his mind says.

The rest of his mind remembers what Takato looked like and argues the naysayer into submission.

But then - that means -

"Taichi-senpai." Ken tries to pull himself together. "It's been a while."

Only after he says it does he realize this is the most ridiculous thing he could have possibly said. One, he saw Taichi-senpai (if in passing) on a video call with Hikari-san the other day (something about Miyako-san talking her into starting a pancake...diary...?). Two -

Well, he was accurate. Since the time he's seen this Taichi, it has been, to put it mildly, a while.

Edited (a stray romi park hyphen got loose) 2020-11-02 00:04 (UTC)

Agumon threw up his hands in celebration... dropping Wormmon in the process. "Ken!" he exclaimed. "You've gotten big!"

Taichi shook his head, flabbergasted. "I'd sure as hell say it has," he said, unable to avoid being uncouth. "Just what is going on?!"

"Oof!!"

Science fact of the day: worms bounce. NOW YOU KNOW.

Wormmon hugs his own head and shakes it to make sure nothing got knocked loose (hey, it could happen). Ken can't say he isn't worried about his partner, but since Wormmon will surely seek him out if anything grievous has happened, he'll keep talking to Taichi in the meantime.

"This is the Voidtrecker Express," Ken explained, offering a stiff gesture towards, well, the train is labeled. "Simply put, it seems to have chosen us for another adventure. Apparently it can summon people from any point in time it wishes...."

Wait, no, back up, his upperclassman-who-isn't might have meant something else. Ken will have to cover for that. "I'm a college freshman, by the way."

There. No point in beating around the bush.

That brat who thought he could Dark Evolve Taichi's partner once upon a time is now older than him.

Agumon winced. "Sorry, Wormmon."

Taichi, meanwhile, focused on what Ken was saying. "A train... a train chose us this time..." he said aloud. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't enough to make it seem real.

He shook his head at the next part.

"This is unreal, Ken. I... you're older than me and Agumon and I got brought here by a train."

"I wish I had a more complete explanation."

Ken'd only just begun to look himself....so, where else can they seek answers? Why him, why Taichi-senpai, why these ages?

There has to be something he's overlooking.

Wormmon, meanwhile, has completed his self-analysis. "I'm okay. I've become a tough Digimon, haven't I?"

Of course, the person he most wants to hear tell him that is Ken-chan......But he's very proud of the progress both he and Ken-chan have made. He might want to show off. A little.

"Ken, no offense, but given our history, it wouldn't surprise me if that was a complete explanation."

Agumon smiled, and gave Wormmon a very light punch in the closest thing the worm had to a shoulder. "You're definitely tough! You're one of the ones who beat BelialVamdemon, after all!"

"I am, huh!"

This reminder pleases Wormmon, though he was only able to beat that particular enemy because V-mon was with him and everyone gave them their strength. But being filled with everyone's energy and hope and dreams for the future had been a very warm feeling, so it's stuck with him this whole time.

...Ken, for his own part, must admit that Taichi-senpai has a point. "We'll see, I suppose."

But then he starts to consider things. Him and Takato-kun last platform. Taichi-san this platform.

Why these three people, at these particular ages, at this particular time?

Taichi blinked, noticing Ken seemed to be getting lost in thought.

"Uh, is something wrong?" he asked. "You look like something's bothering you, man."

Even with his own frustrations, that much seemed obvious.

"...No, it's probably a fruitless thought," Ken admits, caught out and therefore able to course-correct. "Whether we understand our purpose or not, moving forward is the only way to the future."

Says Ichijouji Ken. With a confident smile on his face.

This is not weird at all.

"What have you been up to?" Wormmon asks Agumon. He can tell there is something time-related going on, but it's still a nice thing to ask when you haven't seen someone for a while. Whether you are now years older than them or not!

Taichi... was not fully convinced, but he nodded. all the same. "Alright," he said. "Just, uhm. This is still a lot to take in. I'm not sure where to go from here..."

Agumon, completely unconcerned unlike Taichi, turned to Wormmon and smiled. "I've been up to a lot!" he said. "I chased Miko around the apartment yesterday, and Taichi's mom made croquettes! They were delicious!"

Has Ken been coming on too strong? He'd hoped to front-load Taichi-senpai with the necessary information, but if that backfired....

"It is a lot, isn't it. Let's see."

Ken will help his senior consider this issue. And maybe also spare a little brain space for marveling that Taichi-senpai can feel overwhelmed, too. He's always seemed so capable and decisive.

"I've been eating good food too." Wormmon giggles just thinking about it. "Hey, do you know what an ice cream machine is?"

..........Ken is starting to suspect Wormmon has a new hobby.

Taichi is decisive... which is why he eventually sighs, and says, "You know what, Ken? Don't worry about it," he said. "We'll figure this out somehow, I know you're just trying to help."

The last few months had made him start thinking about things more thoroughly, which is why he had been hung up on all of this and felt overwhelmed. But Nishijima-sensei had also shown him that he couldn't stay like this, especially when people were counting on him to figure things out.

Agumon's eyes lit up. "Of course I do!" he said. "They have those in restaurants! But you usually have to pay for it..."

Did this train have money? Is that how you got the good food? Would Agumon or Taichi have to, dare he say it, get a job?!

Oh. They have them in restaurants? Ken-chan's mama is such a good cook, and Ken-chan is such a light eater, that Wormmon only goes out to eat when Ken-chan is with friends. They must not be going to the right restaurants.

(Or else, though he does not realize this is more likely, he is always too busy looking at Ken-chan to notice his surroundings.)

Either way, he can still try to impress Agumon! Behold, his knowledge:

"It's FREE here!"

Ken knows where this conversation is going by now. So even if Taichi-senpai is being considerate of him... "Well, boarding is the next step."

....they're probably going to go get ice cream, aren't they.

Agumon's eyes widened. "Free?!" he exclaimed. Then he looked at Taichi, practically with stars in his eyes.

... Taichi let out a slightly over-dramatic sigh, and shrugged both his shoulders. "Well, Ken's right, so... I guess there's no harm in it."

"Yippee!" cries Wormmon, with the same sense of surprised delight as if this weren't what he had been angling for all along. "I'll show you, Agumon. This way."

"--Ah, you'll need your ticket." Ken is already drawing his out. He's in sleeper car 3-D, apparently. ~~And his name is Ichijouji Ken. WHOA.~~ "It should be in your pack."

"Your Digivice won't be, but that's okay." Let this Wise Worm resolve all your issues. "You can ask for it later."

Taichi fished around in the (now torn) rucksack, and sure enough, found his ticket... which had been crumpled by Agumon.

"Is this it...?" he asked. And then he blinked, doing a double-take. "Wait a minute. We don't come with our digivices?! But that means our partners can't evolve, right?"

"Temporarily." Ken holds up...a thin black box? "As Wormmon said, there's a request system. You might not recognize this, but it's an updated version of my D-3."

He flips it over so Taichi can see how the case has a Crest of Kindness on the back. "Everyone is summoned with one item. Wormmon was mine."

"Don't feel bad if you're not on the roommate sign," Wormmon reassures Agumon. "That's normal. Ken-chan fixed it for me!"

"Woah..." Taichi said, staring. "That's a digivice? But it looks so... flat..."

"Ehhhhhh?!" cried Agumon. "They didn't put my name on the sign? But... I'm Agumon! I'm a passenger on this train too now, aren't I?"

"It's a mobile phone with Digivice functions," Ken explains. He's a little worried about messing with the future, but if they're adventuring together, he won't be able to escape this much, will he?

Wormmon reaches to take Agumon's claw in two lil nubs. "Don't worry. People will help you fix the sign."

He doesn't want to namedrop who helped HIM because, even for Agumon ---!!

Wormmon doesn't want Ken-chan writing anyone else's sign!!!!!

"It's a phone too? Geez, Koushirou is really making progress in your time, huh?" he said, perfectly willing to attribute the smart phone revolution to one of his closest friends.

Agumon blinked, and then nodded, placing a second pair of claws over Wormmon's nubs. "Thanks!" he said. "I'll have to ask everyone for help, then!"

"Something like that," Ken defers, not able to deny Koushirou-san is an incredible person. (Just maybe not quite...as much as Taichi's thinking.)

Wormmon blinks. He's happy to have his claws held, but...

"Everyone?"

Does everyone

include Ken-chan?

"Well, I'll try not to tell him when I get back," Taichi said. "Or rather... if I get back."

He scrunched up his nose. "This whole train thing better not mess up the timeline."

Agumon blinked in confusion. "Yeah...?" he said. "Is there someone I shouldn't ask for help...?"

"It is concerning." Ken ponders. Returning to the moment they left doesn't help them if his "moment he left" is so much later than Taichi's. And does this mean Taichi knew this was coming...? And didn't tell him?

He doesn't know what to conclude. "Should I not mention anything else?"

"Just one!" Wormmon urges Agumon; he's not ashamed to be honest. He wiggles up to Agumon and whispers in his ear: "Romeo's a good sign-maker, so he's OK. But don't ask Ken-chan!"

A New Platform [Intro Post November]

platform

Re: platform

my new hobby: sticking made-up slice of life shit that would've been more fun than kizuna into tags

a root canal would be more fun than Kizuna

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it ain't ken ichijouji till he's assigning meaning to something that don't mean jack

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